Mangia Pizza Neapolitan Pizzeria

Sep 08, 2016 03:50PM
● By Bryan Scott

Mangia Pizza Neapolitan Pizzeria [1 Image]
Click Any Image To Expand

For many, family is everything. And for Robert Cooper, Vice President of Development in the West and Franchise partner/owner of two Mangia Pizza Neapolitan Pizzeria locations, family is what makes his job worth doing.

“Fundamentally, food brings people together and one of the most rewarding aspect of what we’re doing at Mangia is that we’re bringing family and friends, young and old alike together for an excellent dining experience in a beautiful store in a great location in Draper,” Cooper said of their Draper location, their second franchise location.

Pronounced MAHN-ja, Cooper was introduced to Mangia Pizza on a business trip to the Boston area in 2012. After trying the food and meeting the business partners, he experienced a product and concept that would be accepted well in the West, expanding the Boston-based company.

Their first location in Park City in March 2015 and their second location in Draper in May 2016.

“The Mangia concept is based on completely fresh and high quality, premium ingredients,” Cooper said. He described the pizza dough, a whole wheat-based dough, as the cornerstone of the pizza, which is a thin crust pizza with a “snap and chew.”

All the food is prepared daily in the store with the best ingredients available, providing a non-GMO and unprocessed food experience. This includes all the sauces, which are made with no additional sugars or sweeteners or additives. This is a far cry from pizza places getting sauce out of a bottle.

The Mangia menus features 13 specialty pizzas, a build-your-own-pizza option, a wide variety of salads and pasta and sandwiches, wraps, and what Cooper says is the “biggest calzone in the West.” Mangia specializes in catering for businesses and large personal events.

“As a concept we really lend ourselves to a great lunch experience, but more importantly to a family experience,” Cooper said. “Our interior provides great seating for large parties and we have an awesome patio.”

On top of the great main course and appetizers, Mangia closes strong with a fresh, made daily gelato. All ingredients are natural and flavors vary throughout the week based on ingredients used that day.

The gelato, Cooper claims, has a deeper flavor and less sugar than traditional ice cream. Regardless of that fact, he said is a hit with kids all the way up to the adults.

“There is no better combination than coming in and having an excellent pizza, pasta or salad and finishing it with a gelato,” Cooper said.

Mangia Pizza has co-branded with Sweetaly to create its fresh gelato. Sweetaly has two retail locations in Sugar House and South Salt Lake.

Look forward to having great Mangia products delivered to your home starting in September.

Mangia is looking to expand the business in Utah, Arizona, California, Idaho and Nevada. Cooper said potential operators with “high levels of restaurant experience” are encouraged to contact Mangia at mangiautah@gmail.com for further inquiry.

Finally, Mangia believes in bring goodness, not just good food, to a community by helping communities with fundraiser and other charitable actions as part of Mangia Cares initiative.